Sergey Kud-Sverchkov

Sergey Vladimirovich Kud-Sverchkov was born on 23 August 1983 in Baikonur, in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic — the very town that hosts the world's oldest and largest spaceport, from which he would one day launch to orbit. He trained as an engineer rather than a pilot, graduating with honors in 2006 from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University with a specialization in rocket engineering. He then went to work at RSC Energia, the storied Russian spacecraft manufacturer responsible for the Soyuz and Progress vehicles, gaining hands-on experience with the very hardware of human spaceflight. In April 2010 Roscosmos selected him for its cosmonaut corps, and he spent the following decade in training and support roles before earning his first flight assignment.

Kud-Sverchkov's first spaceflight began on 14 October 2020, when he launched aboard Soyuz MS-17 as a flight engineer alongside veteran commander Sergey Ryzhikov and NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins, flying to the International Space Station for Expedition 63/64. The mission was notable for its ultra-fast rendezvous, reaching the station in roughly three hours. On 18 November 2020 he ventured outside the station in an Orlan spacesuit for his first spacewalk, an extravehicular activity lasting about six hours and 48 minutes, performed with Ryzhikov to prepare the Russian segment of the station. He and his crewmates returned to Earth on 17 April 2021 after nearly 185 days in orbit. He returned to space on his second mission on 27 November 2025, this time as the commander of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, launching from his hometown of Baikonur with NASA astronaut Christopher Williams and fellow cosmonaut Sergey Mikayev, and joining the long-duration Expedition 73/74 crew.

With two long-duration missions to his name, one spacewalk, and command of a crewed Soyuz on his second flight, Kud-Sverchkov has grown from a factory-floor engineer at Energia into an experienced ISS commander and one of the more accomplished members of his cosmonaut selection. As an active Roscosmos cosmonaut, he continues to represent the engineering tradition within the Russian corps — spacefarers who understand their vehicles from the inside out — and his career is neatly bookended by geography, from a childhood beside the Baikonur launch pads to commanding a spacecraft that lifted off from them. His progression to Soyuz commander places him among the cadre of senior Russian cosmonauts entrusted with leading crews aboard the station in its later operational years.